“We all know what will happen on the Cipressa”; Tom Pidcock on Milan-Sanremo

Pidcock was in control on the climb near Turin. On the first passage he was already alert when Primoz Roglic of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe launched an initial probing move, and he was there again on the decisive final ascent. The Uno-X and Movistar riders kept the pace high there, but in the end Pidcock made the difference with a clear acceleration in the final 500 metres.

That came after a week and a half without racing, something he definitely felt. “It was a strange day. It almost felt like the first race of the season. I felt the accelerations in my legs all day, but fortunately in the end I still had what I needed to win.”

“Primoz [Roglic] is hard to read. He stays seated the whole time,” the Brit said of his biggest rival. “I expected him to be good. I hesitated about attacking, but in the end I did it anyway and the timing was perfect. A win is a win. No win comes easily, so it’s nice to take this one.”

In doing so, he handed Pinarello-Q36.5 a fine victory. “The plan was to take control of the race and keep the peloton together on the first climb. In the end I had to do that myself, after the team had looked after me all day.”

The Milano-Torino trophy was presented to him by a special guest. “It was nice to receive the prize from Mark Cavendish. He is the hero of British cycling, if not of cycling in recent years. It’s great to still see him in the sport and to see him representing us.”

Like Cavendish in 2009, Pidcock now hopes to make his mark on Saturday in Milan-Sanremo. “I think my legs are good. I’m going to Milano-Sanremo with big ambitions, but it is one of the hardest races to win. I was good last year as well, but I crashed at the foot of the Cipressa," echoed CyclingProNet.

“So anything can happen there, but I hope I can compete for the top places. We all know what is going to happen on the Cipressa, so we will do our absolute best there,” he said, referring to the expected attack from Tadej Pogacar on that climb in Milan-Sanremo.